Optical blind-mate connector and adapter

ABSTRACT

Described are examples of optical blind-mate connector adaptors, optical blind-mate connectors to blind-mate to the adaptors, and optical blind-mate systems. In various implementations, an optical blind-mate connector adapter may include a sleeve housing and a shutter mounted at an opening of the sleeve housing. The shutter may include a shutter flap to cover the opening in a closed position and a shutter tab to receive a force to move the shutter flap from the closed position to an open position extending away from the sleeve housing.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §371, this application is a United States NationalStage Application of International Patent Application No.PCT/US2013/062621, filed on Sep. 30, 2013, the contents of which areincorporated by reference as if set forth in their entirety herein.

BACKGROUND

Optical communications are increasingly used in systems to achieve datacommunication with a greater bandwidth and/or lower electromagneticinterference as compared to electrical communications. In some systems,optical and electrical communication interconnections may be used.Optical fibers may be employed for optical input/output, and for someapplications, optical fibers may be coupled to other optical fibersand/or system components by an optical connector.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The detailed description section references the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1A-1D illustrate various views of an example optical blind-mateconnector adapter;

FIG. 2 illustrates another example optical blind-mate connector adaptermated to an example optical blind-mate connector;

FIG. 3A-3D illustrate various views of another example opticalblind-mate connector;

FIG. 4A-4B illustrate another example optical blind-mate connectoradapter mated to another example optical blind-mate connector; and

FIG. 5A-5C illustrate cross-section views of another example opticalblind-mate connector being inserted into another example opticalblind-mate connector adapter;

all in which various embodiments may be implemented.

Certain examples are shown in the above-identified figures and describedin detail below. The figures are not necessarily to scale, and variousfeatures and views of the figures may be shown exaggerated in scale orin schematic for clarity and/or conciseness.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Optical transmission systems may be employed to interconnect networkelements. Optical connectors include optical fibers, which may beconnected end-to-end to transfer light or optical power therebetween.The fibers may be terminated in connector assemblies and may be mated byan adapter. Some such optical connection systems may includeblind-mating connectors and adapters in which the connector and adapterare mated without necessarily having any visual and/or tactileindications that the connector and adapter are properly aligned. In somecases, a module may include optical connectors and electrical connectorsto simultaneously blind-mate to their corresponding adapters.

Optical modules are sometimes enclosed in an electronic module enclosurealong with other components. Server enclosures, for example, may includea plurality of bays that house individual blade servers, opticalmodules, power supply modules, among other components. Often, fans andother cooling components may be provided as electronic systems may tendto generate a large amount of heat.

In some electronic module enclosure arrangements, an optical module maybe coupled to another optical component via an optical blind-mateadapter. Air flow leakage, however, may tend to occur, particularly whenno optical modules are connected to an adapter of the mid-plane or whenonly one optical module is connected to an adapter. In addition, theadapter openings may allow dust to infiltrate the system or accumulateonto an optical fiber contact end when an optical module is absent onthe other side of the adapter. Furthermore, there is a possibility ofeye safety issues for human operators when an optical module is absenton the other side of the adapter.

Described herein are optical blind-mate connector adapters, opticalblind-mate connectors, and optical blind-mate systems to provide airflow management, dust management, and eye safety. In variousimplementations, an optical blind-mate connector adapter may include asleeve housing and a shutter mounted on a pivot at an opening of thesleeve housing, and an optical blind-mate connector may include anactuator to engage a shutter tab of the shutter to move a shutter flapof the shutter to an open position extending away from the sleevehousing. In various implementations, the optical blind-mate connectoradapter may include a pair of shutters at each of the openings at thedistal ends of the sleeve housing, wherein each pair is configured tocooperatively cover the respective opening of the sleeve.

Turning now to FIG. 1A-1D, illustrated are views of an example apparatusincluding an optical blind-mate connector adapter 102. Moreparticularly, FIG. 1A is a perspective view, FIG. 1B is a side view, andFIGS. 1C and 1D are cross-section views of the apparatus. The opticalblind-mate connector adapter 102 may include a sleeve housing 104including a plurality of shutters 106 individually moveable between aclosed position (as shown in FIG. 1A-1C) and an open position (as shownin FIG. 1D) to blind-mate to an optical connector, as described morefully herein.

The shutters 106 may each be mounted on a pivot 108 and the sleevehousing 104 may include biasing member 110 to bias the shutters 106 tothe closed position yet allow the shutters 106 to be moved to the openposition. In various implementations, the shutters 106 may include ashutter flap 112 to cover the openings of the sleeve housing 104 and ashutter tab 114 to receive a force (from an optical blind-mateconnector, for example) to urge the shutter flap 112 from the closedposition to the open position.

In various implementations, the optical blind-mate connector adapter 102may include two pairs of shutters 106, a pair mounted at each of thedistal ends of the sleeve housing 104, as shown. In someimplementations, the shutters 106 of a pair may be arranged tocooperatively cover the respective opening 116 of the sleeve housing104. In most implementations, the shutters 106 of a pair may be arrangedto cooperatively cover an entirety of their respective openings 116 ofthe sleeve housing 104. In various ones of these implementations, theshutter flaps 112 of a pair of the shutters 106 may overlap when in theclosed position.

In some implementations, the outside facing surface of the shutters 106may include a film (not shown), which may provide additional dustprotection. In some of these implementations, the film may be oversizedto help further seal around the perimeters of the shutters 106. In someother implementations, the inside facing surface of the shutters 106 maybe coated, pasted, or painted with material, or shaped, to preventoptical signal reflection.

In various implementations, the optical blind-mate connector adapter 102may be mounted onto a circuit board or stationary plane, such as, forexample, a mid-plane board 118, shown in partial view in FIG. 1A-1D,with one of the openings 116 of the sleeve housing 104 disposed at afirst side of the mid-plane board 118, resting on the sleeve collar 117when it is fully installed on the mid-plane board 118, and the otheropening 116 disposed at a second side of the mid-plane board 118 toallow optical modules to couple through the adapter 102, which will bedescribed and shown in more detail herein. The integrated shutters 106may provide for restriction of air-flow, dust, and/or light (e.g., froma fiber optic cable) through the adapter 102, independently on each sideof the adapter 102, particularly when only optical module is insertedinto the adapter 102 or when no optical modules are inserted into theadapter 102.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example system including a first optical module220 a, which may be connected to a second optical module 220 b via anoptical blind-mate adapter 202. An optical connector 222 a of the firstoptical module 220 a may be blind-mated to one side of the adapter 202,and an optical connector 222 b of the second optical module 220 b may beblind-mated to the other side of the adapter 202.

The adapter 202 may be mounted onto a stationary plane or mid-planecircuit board 218 by securing the sleeve collar 217 for example bymounting screws. The connectors 222 a, 222 b may each be mounted ontorespective circuit board or module bulkhead mounting panel board 224 a,224 b to form the optical modules 220 a, 220 b. In some implementations,one or both of the optical modules 220 a, 220 b may comprise a systemmodule, and in some implementations, the system module may includehigh-power active components. In various implementations, one of theoptical modules 220 a, 220 b may comprise a system module while theother one of the optical modules 220 a, 220 b may comprise aconnectivity module with a few or no active components. In variousimplementations, the planes of the boards 224 a, 224 b of the opticalmodules 220 a, 220 b may be oriented parallel to each other, asillustrated, or may be orthogonal to each other. In various ones ofthese implementations, the planes of board 224 a or 224 b of the opticalmodules 220 a, 220 b may be oriented orthogonally or parallel to themid-plane circuit board 218.

Although not illustrated, the mid-plane circuit board 218 may include anelectrical blind-mate adapter in addition to the optical adapter 202. Invarious implementations, the optical modules 220 a, 220 b may includeelectrical connectors (not shown) in addition to the optical connectors222 a, 222 b, and the electrical connectors may be configured tosimultaneously blind-mate with the electrical adapter(s) of themid-plane circuit board 218.

FIG. 3A-3C illustrate various views of another example optical moduleincluding an optical blind-mate connector 322 mounted on a modulebulkhead mounting panel board 324. In particular, FIG. 3A illustrates aperspective view of the module, FIG. 3B illustrates a side view of themodule, and FIG. 3C illustrates a cross-section view of the module.

As illustrated, the connector 322 may include an actuator 326 and anoptical ferrule assembly 328 slidably coupled to the actuator 326. Invarious implementations and as shown, the connector 322 may include apair of actuators 326 slidably coupled to the optical ferrule assembly328. The optical ferrule assembly 328 may include a housing 330 and atleast one ferrule 332 disposed at least in part in the housing 330. Theferrule 332 may hold a plurality of optical fibers (not shown). Invarious implementations, at least one of the ferrules 332 may be exposedat an end of the housing 330 to allow the ferrules 332 to opticallycouple to another connector (not shown here). Each ferrule 332 may haveferrule alignment features 331 for final alignment of the mating ferrulepair. The ferrule alignment features 331 may be protruding feature onone ferrule and recessed feature on the other ferrule. Each ferrule 332may include optical signal elements 333. An optical signal element 333may be a shaped and polished end of a fiber or an expanded beam lens.The ferrule alignment features 331 may provide the mechanism for theoptical signal elements 333 of the mated ferrule pair to communicativelycouple with minimum signal loss.

The connector 322 may include a biasing member 334 to urge the opticalferrule assembly 328 into the retracted position shown in FIG. 3A-3C.The biasing member 334 may comprise a spring, elastomer, or the like,and may arranged to compress between a wall 336 of the housing 330 and awall 338 of the actuator 326 when the optical ferrule assembly 328 movesto an extended position, as shown in FIG. 3D, so as to urge the opticalferrule assembly 328 back into the retracted position when the connector322 is withdrawn from a connector adapter. In various ones of theimplementations including more than one actuator 326, the connector 322may include a biasing member 334 between each actuator 326 and theoptical ferrule assembly 328 to cooperatively urge the optical ferruleassembly 328 into the retracted position.

FIG. 4A illustrates a perspective view an example system including anoptical blind-mate connector 422 blind-mated to an optical blind-mateadapter 402. To aid in the understanding of the structure of the opticalblind-mate connector 422, a view of the connector 422 is shown in FIG.4B with one of the actuators 426 removed to reveal an internal sectionof the connector 422.

As illustrated, the connector 422 may include an optical ferruleassembly 428 slidably coupled to the actuators 422. As shown, theoptical ferrule assembly 428 is in the extended position and coupled tothe connector 422. In this position, the shutters 406 of the adapter 402may be disposed in an open position to allow the optical ferruleassembly 428 may extend into an interior of the sleeve 404 of theadapter 402. The connector 422 may include a biasing member 434 to urgethe optical ferrule assembly 428 back into a retracted position uponwithdrawal of the connector 422 from the adapter 402. In variousimplementations, the connector 422 may include a spring guide 440 toalign and guide the biasing member 434 between the retracted andextended positions.

FIG. 5A-5C illustrate cross-section views of an example opticalblind-mate connector 522 being inserted into an example opticalblind-mate connector adapter 502. As the connector 522 is blind-mated tothe adapter 502, the leading edges of the actuators 526 of the connector522 may engage and exert a force against the shutter tabs 514 of theshutters 506 to move the shutters flaps 512 from the closed position toan open position extending away from the sleeve housing 504, as shown inFIGS. 5A and 5B.

As the connector 522 and adapter 502 are blind-mated to each other, theshutter 506 bottoms out on the shutter rest 519 and the optical ferruleassembly 528 of the connector 522 may slide from the retracted position(shown in FIG. 5A) to the extended position into the sleeve housing 504(shown in FIG. 5B), compressing the biasing members 534. In variousimplementations, the actuators 526 may include a tab 542 to reversiblyinterlock with the adapter 502. In various ones of theseimplementations, the shutters 506 may include a notch 544 shaped tofacilitate the reversible interlocking of the connector 522 with theadapter 502.

When blind-mated to the adapter 502, the optical ferrule assembly 528may extend into the interior of the sleeve housing 504 of the adapter502. In various implementations, the pivots 508 of the shutters 506 maybe pushed toward the centerline, C, of the adapter 502 such that theferrule 532 of the optical ferrule assembly 528 may extend beyond thecenter line, C, of the mid-plane circuit board 518 when the opticalferrule assembly 528 is fully inserted into the sleeve housing 504, asshown in FIG. 5B. In various ones of these implementations, when anopposing connector 522 is inserted fully into the adapter 502, thepivots 508 may be pushed back away from the centerline C and theferrules 532 may be compressed back into their respective housings 530,as shown in FIG. 5C. In this arrangement, a positive mating force may beprovided between opposing mated ferrules 532 to ensure adequate opticalcoupling between the connectors 522. When the connector 522 is withdrawnfrom the adapter 502, the tab 542 may pull the notch 544 to urge, incombination with the biasing member 510, the shutter flaps 512 to theclosed position. In some of these implementations, the tab 542 may pullthe pivots 508 away from the centerline C until the biasing members 510snap the shutter flaps 512 to the closed position.

Various aspects of the illustrative embodiments are described hereinusing terms commonly employed by those skilled in the art to convey thesubstance of their work to others skilled in the art. It will beapparent to those skilled in the art that alternate embodiments may bepracticed with only some of the described aspects. For purposes ofexplanation, specific numbers, materials, and configurations are setforth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the illustrativeembodiments. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art thatalternate embodiments may be practiced without the specific details. Inother instances, well-known features are omitted or simplified in ordernot to obscure the illustrative embodiments.

Although certain embodiments have been illustrated and described herein,it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that a widevariety of alternate and/or equivalent embodiments or implementationscalculated to achieve the same purposes may be substituted for theembodiments shown and described without departing from the scope of thisdisclosure. Those with skill in the art will readily appreciate thatembodiments may be implemented in a wide variety of ways. Thisapplication is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of theembodiments discussed herein. It is manifestly intended, therefore, thatembodiments be limited only by the claims and the equivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus to optically blind-mate to anoptical module, the apparatus comprising: a sleeve housing including anopening; and a shutter mounted on a pivot at the opening and including ashutter flap to cover the opening in a closed position and a shutter tabto receive a force to move the shutter flap from the closed position toan open position extending away from the sleeve housing, wherein thepivot is located between the shutter flap and the shutter tab.
 2. Theapparatus of claim 1, further comprising a biasing member to bias theshutter flap to the closed position.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the shutter is a first shutter, and wherein the apparatusincludes a second shutter mounted on a pivot at the opening, the firstshutter and the second shutter arranged to cooperatively cover theopening of the sleeve housing.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein thefirst shutter and the second shutter are arranged to cooperatively coveran entirety of the opening of the sleeve housing.
 5. The apparatus ofclaim 3, wherein the respective shutter flaps of the first shutter andthe second shutter overlap in the closed position.
 6. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the opening is a first opening disposed at a firstdistal end of the sleeve, and wherein the apparatus includes anothershutter mounted at a second opening disposed at a second distal end ofthe sleeve housing.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the shutter isa first shutter, wherein the opening is a first opening disposed at afirst distal end of the sleeve housing, and wherein the apparatusincludes a second shutter mounted at a second opening disposed at asecond distal end of the sleeve housing.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the opening is a first opening disposed at a first distal end ofthe sleeve housing, wherein the sleeve housing includes a second openingdisposed at a second distal end of the sleeve, and wherein the sleevehousing is mounted on a circuit board such that the first opening isdisposed at first side of the circuit board and the second opening isdisposed at a second side, opposite the first side, of the circuitboard.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is a connectoradapter to blind-mate a pair of optical modules to each other.
 10. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein the shutter tab is movable towards thesleeve housing to move the shutter flap from the closed position to theopen position.
 11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the pivot ismovable from a position proximal to the opening in the closed positionto a position distal from the opening in the open position.
 12. Theapparatus of claim 1, wherein: the pivot is movable on the sleevehousing towards and away from a centerline of the sleeve housing; thesleeve housing comprises a shutter rest projecting parallel to thecenterline; and the shutter contacts the shutter rest when the pivot isfully extended towards the centerline.
 13. The apparatus of claim 7,wherein the second shutter comprises a second shutter tab, a secondshutter flap to cover the second opening in the closed position, and asecond pivot between the second shutter tab and the second shutter flap,the second pivot mounting the second shutter to the sleeve housing.